French startup Goojet is coming out with an updated version of its mobile content and services suite after getting some runway with the beta product it launched about a year ago, six months after winning the Le Web 3 startup competition.
At the same time, the company is announcing that it has raised its second round of financing to the tune of €6 million (approx. $8.5 million) after raising initial funding for the project back in December 2007. The total amount of capital invested in the company is now at a healthy €8.3 million. Like its Series A round, the money comes from Partech International, Elaia Partners and IRDI-ICSO. Paris-based VC firm Orkos Capital participated in the new round as well for the first time.
Goojet essentially wants to enhance your mobile experience by aggregating a number of services and content offerings into one portal / application, which it pitches as a “mobile social media” (sounds awful, I know). As a user, you can create a so-called Goojet Space, a customizable page with little icons that represent your favorite apps, websites and services that you can access from both the Web and hundreds of mobile devices. The application is completely free and comes with a version tailored for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android platform as well as hundreds of Java-capable phones.
The updated version of the tool continues to build upon the startup’s vision of trying to facilitate the consumption, discovery and sharing of mobile services and content by adding new tabs to the interface. One is for ‘News’ and features Facebook-style updates with notifications from various sources, like the Goojet platform itself, other users or straight from specific mobile widgets. Also new is the addition of a ‘Messages’ tab which enables people to chat with one or more people whether they use Goojet or not (by sms or e-mail).
Goojet is now eyeing a reinforcement of its presence in France, where it has attracted 300k users to date, according to the startup. Although its product has been available in English from the get-go, the company hasn’t focused much on expanding internationally so far, Marketing Manager Cédric Giorgi tells me. With the new capital, Goojet intends to change that.
